33yo male, 100lbs down on zepbound, new to grey market

[bbbilly]

hey everybody, billy here, just starting to figure out this grey market scene. i'd been hunting for a community like this for a while, but everyone keeps so quiet about it that i pretty much found this place by pure luck lol.

so, quick background: i'm a 33-year-old guy, and so far i've shed roughly 100lbs using my zepbound script. fitness has been one of my "special interests" for around 20 years. my dream was to play pro football or become a bodybuilder, but that ended when i fractured my L4 and L5 in collage. after years of rehab and a hand full of spine injections, i finally got back in the gym, only to realize i'd never build enough mass to even pass as a wannabe bodybuilder. honestly, that realization threw me into a deep depression, and covid only made it worse, so i accidentally gained 100lbs of fat instead. then my wife and i started trying for our first kid and nothing was happening, so i got my swimmers tested and learned i was damn near sterile. over the next 2 years i took every supplement imaginable, trained hard, and dropped weight with some zepbound help for about 60lbs of it, all to get my body working right for that one goal, and it worked.

now i'm just hooked on learning about all these peptides, how they act in the body, how they interact with each other, and what you can possibly achieve on them. after seeing how zepbound fixed my one weakness (binge eating), it was life changing to understand how "normal" people felt. not obsessing over food 24/7 almost sent me back into that whole messed up self-image, but it didn't. instead, it sent me down this rabbit whole to a whole new place in life.

can't wait to learn more and get to know everyone.

how much weight have people lost on the GLPs around here? and also how much lean mass have people put on with others? im always interested to see how other people respond to the same things

 

[DarkHorse25]

Hey Billy! Nice work grabbing life by the horns and taking charge of it! I've dealt with the L4/L5 battle too. In my case it came from something as basic as a weak, overworked core back when I was early in my construction career. Did weighted and rolled ab curls and SLIP!, the disc went out. It felt like I'd been shot. I passed out on the gym floor for roughly 15 minutes from the pain. Came to in the ER and my right leg had no feeling. A day later the multi year process began, but getting back to normal took far longer than that. I dealt with the depression and the weight gain as well. I began the Reta part of my journey last fall and I'm down 40lbs, almost at what I call my turn around weight. I'm already at a healthy weight and below body fat levels I honestly never thought I'd see again, but reaching my starting weight from when I was much younger is a dream that's been driving me. I figure I'll be there in a week or two. My biggest concern isn't losing it, and I have the confidence and discipline to add back the lean mass weight I want too. My biggest concern is what life looks like when/if I taper off and stop using Reta/GLP/3 molecules completely. The mental quiet has been wonderful. That sense that I make a choice, put together a plan to execute it, and have full control of my mind to follow through is something I'd never felt before. Before this, and I should mention I'm a professional chef, food was everywhere in every part of my life and controlling it felt impossible. My wife jokingly called me a food pusher, though it wasn't entirely a joke. I congratulate you on your own discipline in getting your health, your family, and your focus back on track. Shedding that weight and putting your health and your family first so you can be the best father and partner for years to come is what matters most. Kudos man.

 

[bbbilly]

DarkHorse25 said:

Hey Billy! Nice work grabbing life by the horns and taking charge of it! I've dealt with the L4/L5 battle too. In my case it came from something as basic as a weak, overworked core back when I was early in my construction career. Did weighted and rolled ab curls and SLIP!, the disc went out. It felt like I'd been shot. I passed out on the gym floor for roughly 15 minutes from the pain. Came to in the ER and my right leg had no feeling. A day later the multi year process began, but getting back to normal took far longer than that. I dealt with the depression and the weight gain as well. I began the Reta part of my journey last fall and I'm down 40lbs, almost at what I call my turn around weight. I'm already at a healthy weight and below body fat levels I honestly never thought I'd see again, but reaching my starting weight from when I was much younger is a dream that's been driving me. I figure I'll be there in a week or two. My biggest concern isn't losing it, and I have the confidence and discipline to add back the lean mass weight I want too. My biggest concern is what life looks like when/if I taper off and stop using Reta/GLP/3 molecules completely. The mental quiet has been wonderful. That sense that I make a choice, put together a plan to execute it, and have full control of my mind to follow through is something I'd never felt before. Before this, and I should mention I'm a professional chef, food was everywhere in every part of my life and controlling it felt impossible. My wife jokingly called me a food pusher, though it wasn't entirely a joke. I congratulate you on your own discipline in getting your health, your family, and your focus back on track. Shedding that weight and putting your health and your family first so you can be the best father and partner for years to come is what matters most. Kudos man.

hold on a minute.. are you using that same username elsewhere online? i'm acquainted with a "darkhorse35" from another site... or am i missing some kind of inside joke? either way, this is wild!

still, i appreciate it — it's been a crazy journey and a real eye-opener regarding how the human body works. for 2 decades i've given the gym everything i had, over and over. i even coached buddies who blew past me in every measurable way inside a year. meanwhile i'm stuck in place, pushing to failure, getting my protein in, and doing whatever i can for sleep. some folks simply have better genetics, and realizing that not everybody spends the whole day thinking about the cupcakes their boss brought in — then winds up carrying 7 of them home after swiping them from the break room one by one — really got me wondering what i could actually reach if i could just fine-tune everything to match everyone else's level. maybe i wasn't blessed with incredible genetics, but with a bit of assistance and my dedication, i could definitely get pretty close!

 

[DarkHorse25]

Honestly, no other forums have me as a member. Understanding what runs in your family is the foundation you need before you can build a plan that fits. Owning that is step one. In my case, things were ticking along fine before the Reta. My weight wasn't a problem. What turned out to be a real problem was visceral fat. I looked strong, solid, muscular — or at least that's what I told myself — but after that initial scan I was genuinely terrified. Heart, liver, lungs, stomach, way too much extra piled on top. Cancer and heart disease run all through my family line, and my goal is to be around for grandkids for many decades. Without that change, there was no way it was going to happen. These days my workouts feel like they could stretch on endlessly. Strength keeps climbing, and I'm working toward a build like Henry Cavill in Superman. My wife is even happier about it than I am. I feel like I'm in a NuGenix ad!

 

[bbbilly]

DarkHorse25 said:

Honestly, no other forums have me as a member. Understanding what runs in your family is the foundation you need before you can build a plan that fits. Owning that is step one. In my case, things were ticking along fine before the Reta. My weight wasn't a problem. What turned out to be a real problem was visceral fat. I looked strong, solid, muscular — or at least that's what I told myself — but after that initial scan I was genuinely terrified. Heart, liver, lungs, stomach, way too much extra piled on top. Cancer and heart disease run all through my family line, and my goal is to be around for grandkids for many decades. Without that change, there was no way it was going to happen. These days my workouts feel like they could stretch on endlessly. Strength keeps climbing, and I'm working toward a build like Henry Cavill in Superman. My wife is even happier about it than I am. I feel like I'm in a NuGenix ad!

so the world must not be that big after all.

i get that feeling. heart attacks and passing away before 50 run in my family — my grandpa was 49 when he died suddenly at the dinner table, no signs beforehand. at 33, i've accepted that by my family's standards i'm probably already middle aged. that's even more true since i was diagnosed with PVC (a heart arrhythmia) 10 years ago, which raises my risk further.

my goal has always been to have a body like chris hemsworth in thor. but i've realized the most my body can pull off is chris hemsworth the underwear model lol

 

[jesuisperdu]

DarkHorse25 said:

Honestly, no other forums have me as a member. Understanding what runs in your family is the foundation you need before you can build a plan that fits. Owning that is step one. In my case, things were ticking along fine before the Reta. My weight wasn't a problem. What turned out to be a real problem was visceral fat. I looked strong, solid, muscular — or at least that's what I told myself — but after that initial scan I was genuinely terrified. Heart, liver, lungs, stomach, way too much extra piled on top. Cancer and heart disease run all through my family line, and my goal is to be around for grandkids for many decades. Without that change, there was no way it was going to happen. These days my workouts feel like they could stretch on endlessly. Strength keeps climbing, and I'm working toward a build like Henry Cavill in Superman. My wife is even happier about it than I am. I feel like I'm in a NuGenix ad!

Ha, so I guess I`m not alone in chasing that Superman Cavill look

 

[jesuisperdu]

bbbilly said:

DarkHorse25 said:

Honestly, no other forums have me as a member. Understanding what runs in your family is the foundation you need before you can build a plan that fits. Owning that is step one. In my case, things were ticking along fine before the Reta. My weight wasn't a problem. What turned out to be a real problem was visceral fat. I looked strong, solid, muscular — or at least that's what I told myself — but after that initial scan I was genuinely terrified. Heart, liver, lungs, stomach, way too much extra piled on top. Cancer and heart disease run all through my family line, and my goal is to be around for grandkids for many decades. Without that change, there was no way it was going to happen. These days my workouts feel like they could stretch on endlessly. Strength keeps climbing, and I'm working toward a build like Henry Cavill in Superman. My wife is even happier about it than I am. I feel like I'm in a NuGenix ad!

so the world must not be that big after all.

i get that feeling. heart attacks and passing away before 50 run in my family — my grandpa was 49 when he died suddenly at the dinner table, no signs beforehand. at 33, i've accepted that by my family's standards i'm probably already middle aged. that's even more true since i was diagnosed with PVC (a heart arrhythmia) 10 years ago, which raises my risk further.

my goal has always been to have a body like chris hemsworth in thor. but i've realized the most my body can pull off is chris hemsworth the underwear model lol

Yeah, as a Hamsworts Thor, I can really picture my ultimate physique..

Spoiler

 

[bbbilly]

jesuisperdu said:

bbbilly said:

DarkHorse25 said:

Honestly, no other forums have me as a member. Understanding what runs in your family is the foundation you need before you can build a plan that fits. Owning that is step one. In my case, things were ticking along fine before the Reta. My weight wasn't a problem. What turned out to be a real problem was visceral fat. I looked strong, solid, muscular — or at least that's what I told myself — but after that initial scan I was genuinely terrified. Heart, liver, lungs, stomach, way too much extra piled on top. Cancer and heart disease run all through my family line, and my goal is to be around for grandkids for many decades. Without that change, there was no way it was going to happen. These days my workouts feel like they could stretch on endlessly. Strength keeps climbing, and I'm working toward a build like Henry Cavill in Superman. My wife is even happier about it than I am. I feel like I'm in a NuGenix ad!

so the world must not be that big after all.

i get that feeling. heart attacks and passing away before 50 run in my family — my grandpa was 49 when he died suddenly at the dinner table, no signs beforehand. at 33, i've accepted that by my family's standards i'm probably already middle aged. that's even more true since i was diagnosed with PVC (a heart arrhythmia) 10 years ago, which raises my risk further.

my goal has always been to have a body like chris hemsworth in thor. but i've realized the most my body can pull off is chris hemsworth the underwear model lol

Yeah, as a Hamsworts Thor, I can really picture my ultimate physique..

Spoiler

View attachment 12449

Haha, I had to pause for a moment before it clicked that "hamsworts" wasn't just a typo

 

[freedbondage]

Welcome aboard. Amazing job on the weight loss! That is genuinely a huge achievement.

 

[peptID]

Hey there! Great to meet you, and way to go on the weight loss!

I'm F and the same age as you. Over 2 years on tirzepatide I've shed 75 lbs. The bulk of that—roughly 60 lbs.—came off during year 1, while year 2 has been much slower, with the weight coming down gradually and holding steadier. I stand around 5', so for someone my size those 75 lbs. were plenty to shift me from a BMI above 30 down to about 20. Adding more lean mass is definitely something I could use, and that's where my attention is now that the extra weight is off.

Sitting at a normal weight—pretty much without effort at this point—along with no longer having food on my mind all the time, plus the other health gains the GLP1s brought, has completely changed my life! I'm also extremely eager to find out what else peptides are capable of, and whether they might work just as well as the GLP1s do for their own purposes?

 

[vande250]

Hey Billy, good to have you. That's one hell of a road you've been down, and major credit for not tapping out along the way.

To start with, a 100 lb drop is massive. Doing it after spinal fractures at L4/L5 and a long stretch of rehab makes it even more impressive. And managing to flip things around far enough that fertility improved and you could begin a family — that's genuinely great to hear.

Plenty of folks in this space arrived the same way — a GLP med quiets the binging and the food chatter, and all at once you get why everyone else seemed to coast through life. Once that endless mental loop about eating switches off, it really is a different game.

Now, on to what you asked:

Weight loss on GLPs:

Expect a broad spread in this crowd. Most end up somewhere near 15–25% of body weight lost over time. A few lose less, others far more, depending on where they started, their dosing, and how they live. Quite a few here sit in the 70–120 lb loss range, particularly the ones who paired it with lifting and a higher protein intake.

Lean mass / body recomposition:

Here's where it gets interesting. On their own, GLPs usually make building muscle tougher since appetite drops, but people are testing things such as:

• GH secretagogues (like Ipamorelin / Sermorelin)
  
• IGF-related peptides
  
• Recovery peptides like BPC-157 or TB-500
  
• Higher protein strategies while on GLPs

Some report holding onto most of their lean mass through big cuts, and a smaller group actually manages to gain muscle while shedding fat when training and nutrition are locked in.

With your lifting history and your pull toward the science side, you'll likely get a kick out of digging into how these work. There's heavy overlap among metabolic peptides, recovery peptides, and performance peptides, and the people here love trading observations.

Also, thanks for laying out the backstory — injuries, mental health, weight ups and downs, fertility… that's a lot of chapters. Glad you ended up here, and I'm curious what you'll try next.

One more thing: now that the 100 lbs is off, are you leaning more toward recomp/strength, or are you still chasing more fat loss?

 

[bbbilly]

vande250 said:

Hey Billy, good to have you. That's one hell of a road you've been down, and major credit for not tapping out along the way.

To start with, a 100 lb drop is massive. Doing it after spinal fractures at L4/L5 and a long stretch of rehab makes it even more impressive. And managing to flip things around far enough that fertility improved and you could begin a family — that's genuinely great to hear.

Plenty of folks in this space arrived the same way — a GLP med quiets the binging and the food chatter, and all at once you get why everyone else seemed to coast through life. Once that endless mental loop about eating switches off, it really is a different game.

Now, on to what you asked:

Weight loss on GLPs:

Expect a broad spread in this crowd. Most end up somewhere near 15–25% of body weight lost over time. A few lose less, others far more, depending on where they started, their dosing, and how they live. Quite a few here sit in the 70–120 lb loss range, particularly the ones who paired it with lifting and a higher protein intake.

Lean mass / body recomposition:

Here's where it gets interesting. On their own, GLPs usually make building muscle tougher since appetite drops, but people are testing things such as:

• GH secretagogues (like Ipamorelin / Sermorelin)
  
• IGF-related peptides
  
• Recovery peptides like BPC-157 or TB-500
  
• Higher protein strategies while on GLPs

Some report holding onto most of their lean mass through big cuts, and a smaller group actually manages to gain muscle while shedding fat when training and nutrition are locked in.

With your lifting history and your pull toward the science side, you'll likely get a kick out of digging into how these work. There's heavy overlap among metabolic peptides, recovery peptides, and performance peptides, and the people here love trading observations.

Also, thanks for laying out the backstory — injuries, mental health, weight ups and downs, fertility… that's a lot of chapters. Glad you ended up here, and I'm curious what you'll try next.

One more thing: now that the 100 lbs is off, are you leaning more toward recomp/strength, or are you still chasing more fat loss?

appreciate it vande!

so yeah, ive got my eye on a few other compounds to cover areas where i keep falling short on my own. the main one is sleep and recovery. working nights plus being a super light sleeper has always been the thing holding me back from getting into really solid shape and adding obvious muscle. i figure DSIP might be a good fit (still need to look into it more), and then maybe stack in CJC-1295 — thats the name right? — alongside Ipamorelin to take it up another level.

ive searched around but couldnt really turn up anything about whether tb500/bp157 assist with recovery for muscle growth purposes; from what ive seen its only talked about for injuries. i suppose thats what my lab rat is for, right? being the one to figure it out haha

 

[bbbilly]

peptID said:

Hey there! Great to meet you, and way to go on the weight loss!

I'm F and the same age as you. Over 2 years on tirzepatide I've shed 75 lbs. The bulk of that—roughly 60 lbs.—came off during year 1, while year 2 has been much slower, with the weight coming down gradually and holding steadier. I stand around 5', so for someone my size those 75 lbs. were plenty to shift me from a BMI above 30 down to about 20. Adding more lean mass is definitely something I could use, and that's where my attention is now that the extra weight is off.

Sitting at a normal weight—pretty much without effort at this point—along with no longer having food on my mind all the time, plus the other health gains the GLP1s brought, has completely changed my life! I'm also extremely eager to find out what else peptides are capable of, and whether they might work just as well as the GLP1s do for their own purposes?

and well done on the weight loss too! that's a massive bmi shift for such a short window! isn't it wild that you can hold that weight, like you mentioned, with barely any effort? for me, simply not having food on my mind constantly lets me pick the "right" things without any mental battle

 

[EAM9112]

bbbilly said:

hey everybody, billy here, just starting to figure out this grey market scene. i'd been hunting for a community like this for a while, but everyone keeps so quiet about it that i pretty much found this place by pure luck lol.

so, quick background: i'm a 33-year-old guy, and so far i've shed roughly 100lbs using my zepbound script. fitness has been one of my "special interests" for around 20 years. my dream was to play pro football or become a bodybuilder, but that ended when i fractured my L4 and L5 in collage. after years of rehab and a hand full of spine injections, i finally got back in the gym, only to realize i'd never build enough mass to even pass as a wannabe bodybuilder. honestly, that realization threw me into a deep depression, and covid only made it worse, so i accidentally gained 100lbs of fat instead. then my wife and i started trying for our first kid and nothing was happening, so i got my swimmers tested and learned i was damn near sterile. over the next 2 years i took every supplement imaginable, trained hard, and dropped weight with some zepbound help for about 60lbs of it, all to get my body working right for that one goal, and it worked.

now i'm just hooked on learning about all these peptides, how they act in the body, how they interact with each other, and what you can possibly achieve on them. after seeing how zepbound fixed my one weakness (binge eating), it was life changing to understand how "normal" people felt. not obsessing over food 24/7 almost sent me back into that whole messed up self-image, but it didn't. instead, it sent me down this rabbit whole to a whole new place in life.

can't wait to learn more and get to know everyone.

how much weight have people lost on the GLPs around here? and also how much lean mass have people put on with others? im always interested to see how other people respond to the same things

That's a fantastic achievement!